Date

crop storage system News

This policy brief, published by the UK's Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST), examines the potential benefits and challenges of using genetically modified (GM) crops for agricultural development in the developing world, and highlights ...

Manure has two shades of green, so to speak. The green of greater farm crop yields. And the green of a cleaner environment. Organizers of the Aug. 14 Manure Science Review say farmers can see both at the same time and that the event will show how to do it. “Manure is an excellent product for improving soil ...

Drought conditions combined with continued conflict are adding pressure to an already dire food security situation in the Syrian Arab Republic, raising the prospect of further severe reductions in wheat and barley production in key areas, along with increased food import needs and higher prices for 2014, FAO reports. Wheat and barley are the country’s two most important food crops. The ...

Planting a variety of crop species in rotation in agricultural fields increases the diversity of soil microbes below ground, recent research has found. This in turn positively affects soil organic matter, soil structure and aids the healthy functioning of the soil. The researchers say that rotational diversity can help farmers to grow crops in a more sustainable way that promotes soil stability. ...

Varieties of one of the world's most important staple crops will be stored for perpetuity deep in the Arctic ice today. José Graziano da Silva, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is joining scientific experts and delegations from Peru, Costa Rica and Norway to witness a ceremony here this afternoon that will help to preserve these ...

A lot of things might sound far fetched at first, but in no time at all they find themselves being implemented and being totally the norm. Could that be the case with the floating farms we read about in this week’s Daily Mail? A team from Barcelona has designed floating farms that could feed the world in forthcoming decades. Multi-levelled structures would be used to, not only catch fish, ...

After being drained by the millions of acres to make way for agriculture, wetlands are staging a small comeback these days on farms. Some farmers restore or construct wetlands alongside their fields to trap nitrogen and phosphorus runoff, and research shows these systems can also retain pesticides, antibiotics, and other agricultural pollutants. Important as these storage functions of wetlands ...

As a result of new dwarfing rootstock selections, improvements in crop protectants, and better methods of postharvest handling and storage, production of sweet cherry is increasing around the world. New sweet cherry cultivars that allow for improved mechanical harvest have also been introduced, and semi-dwarfing and dwarfing rootstocks have improved the potential for developing high-density ...

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack joined Farmer Veteran Coalition Executive Director Michael O'Gorman and Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Comer to highlight the rapid growth of local and regional marketing opportunities in American agriculture. Local and regional markets provide new opportunity in agriculture and expanded availability of fresh, local foods for all Americans. Link to ...

11-14 October the chair of Horticulture and Product Physiology organises the international symposium MODEL-IT 2015 at Wageningen Campus. During this symposium the latest insights will be presented in development, calibration and application of models in the entire field of the horticultural supply chain, from production over harvest to storage, retail and even consumption. The symposium is ...

One of the biggest threats to today’s farmlands is the loss of soil organic carbon (SOC) and soil organic matter (SOM) from poor land-management practices. The presence of these materials is essential as they do everything from providing plants with proper nutrients to filtering harmful chemical compounds to the prevention of soil erosion. Sustainable management practices for crop residues are ...

As the United States continues to develop alternative energy methods and push towards energy independence, cellulosic-based ethanol has emerged as one of the most commercially viable technologies. Corn stover remains the most popular source available, but the loss of soil organic carbon (SOC) associated with the removal of corn fodder as a cellulosic ethanol feedstock is of agricultural and ...

A form of small-holder agroforestry in which trees are planted around the home, maximising the land left available for cash crops, may prove the best balance between sequestering carbon and making money by ...

Farmers are continually urged to store pesticides safely and securely in order to minimise their impact on the environment and to reduce leakage into water supplies and systems. A study by the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT), with support from Natural England, examined 40 year’s worth of data collected on farmland on the Susses Downs. Examining the effect of climate and ...

Growers of strawberries and strawberry planting material are terrified of the quarantine organism Xanthomonas fragariae. If the bacterium is found, the affected parcel of land has to be partially or even fully cleared. Commissioned by trade association Plantum and the Strawberry Research Foundation, Wageningen UR performed research into how the pathogen is spread in order to prevent spreading. ...

Hundreds of thousands of farmers in the Philippines whose crops were destroyed by Typhoon Haiyan need urgent assistance to sow new seeds before the end of the current planting season, FAO warned today. The typhoon caused damage in the central part of the country to the 2013 main season rice crop, harvesting of which was well advanced. It also badly disrupted planting of the current 2013-2014 ...

This summer, record temperatures and limited rainfall parched vast areas of U.S. cropland, and with Earth’s surface air temperature projected to rise 0.69 degrees Celsius by 2030, global food production will be even more unpredictable, according to new research conducted by the Worldwatch Institute (www.worldwatch.org). Although agriculture is a major driver of ...

U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced today that up to $21 million will be made available for the selection of five projects that will develop supply systems to handle and deliver high tonnage biomass feedstocks for cellulosic biofuels production. The awards announced today are part of the department’s ongoing efforts to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil, spur the ...

Proposed European pesticide legislation could cost UK industry in excess of £905 million, according to Farmers Guardian. The legislation aims to tighten up pesticide regulations and the definition of endocrine distributors and could end up costing the UK agricultural sector hegely. A report commissioned by AHDB assessed the financial impact of the loss of crop protection active substances ...

We need to know more about how smallholder agroforestry can help farmers adapt to climate change, write James Roshetko and Rodel Lasco. Much is known about agroforestry — the mixing of tree species with crops and livestock to enrich farmers' livelihoods. But less is known about how it can help farmers adapt to climate change. This gap in our knowledge is increasingly ...